The New Right-Wing Smear Machine (The Nation)

On February 27, 2001, two members of the American Gold Star Mothers, an organization of women who've lost sons or daughters in combat, dropped by the temporary basement offices of the new junior senator from New York, Hillary Clinton. They didn't have an appointment, and the office, which had been up and running for barely a month, was a bit discombobulated. The two women wanted to talk to the senator about a bill pending in the Senate that would provide annuities for the parents of those killed, but they were told that Clinton wasn't in the office and that the relevant staff members were otherwise engaged. The organization later submitted a formal request in writing for a meeting, which Clinton granted, meeting and posing for pictures with four members of the group.

But the story doesn't end there. In May of that year, the right-wing website NewsMax, a clearinghouse for innuendo and rumor, ran a short item with the headline "Hillary Snubs Gold Star Mothers." Reporting via hearsay--a comment relayed to someone who then recounted it to the column's author--the article claimed that Clinton and her staff "simply refused" to meet with the Gold Star Mothers, making hers the "only office" in the Senate that snubbed the group.

At first the item didn't attract much attention, but it quickly morphed into an e-mail that started ricocheting across the Internet. "Bet this never hits the TV news!" began one version. "According to NewsMax.com there was only one politician in DC who refused to meet with these ladies. Can you guess which politician that might be?... None other than the Queen herself--the Hildebeast, Hillary Clinton."

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071112/hayes

that's all I need to know. I recall listening to dobson's fascist radio program a couple of years ago and heard this beautiful line from their "newscast." < There may be news coming out soon that might indicate Teri Schiavo's husband might have abused her. > Obviously ignorance is a growth industry in the land of the free.

and I like to peruse it just for laughs. It's actually very humorous.

that most people don't know that Newsmax is a RW shill group.

They see the word "news" and assume it's probably middle of the road, or else they'd have heard of it. They're not high profile enough to have directly entered the mainstream.

to figure it out. Ok... maybe 30 seconds... max.

If it is circulated in an email and it's "the NewsMax organization" most people won't bother to click on the link and determine the political leanings of the website.

I mean, we still have those "Bill Clinton was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter by the Sudan, but turned them down" emails going around, even though it's been debunked many times.

Most people won't bother to do the research on their own - they're often too busy, or maybe don't care enough to do the research if it confirms something they think could be true.

Those that produce newsmax and like entities know there is such a vast amount of ignorance out there and people who long to be told, as you correctly say, what they "believe" is true. Facts are irrelevant and research is hard work. That's the world of people with "conservative values" and those who go to church to hear how evil Hillary Clinton is, and they are told so by a person in a tax exempt status.